gas leak!

During the afternoon, while Jen, Mom, and Greta were out to a showing of Hugo (which Dad and would repeat the following day), we noticed a strong odor of gas along the street in front of our house. Well, Dad noticed it, initially, and drew my attention to it, strongly suggesting that I call the gas company. Figuring that the potential of a gas leak isn't something you mess around with, I called, and was told that someone would be sent out immediately. (I guess they don't mess around with it, either.) Sure enough, we soon had someone poking around in the front lawn, testing something in the soil and moving progressively closer to the house. By the time that she'd gotten all the way up to the meter, I was convinced that we had a serious problem. Fortunately, she assured us that since the leak was between the street and the meter, we wouldn't be responsible for the costs. This was ideal, because an hour later (while we sat watching Star Wars), we had four pickups, a digger, a generator with spotlights, and a team of men digging up our yard to fix the problem. Apparently, gas was escaping and pooling along a sewer pipe alongside the street. We're grateful that it's been repaired without injury or cost -- except to the landscaping!